Unity

out in the Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance (SR 910.18 and SR 910.181). This also includes compliance with:

• Documentation of ecological services (Direktzahlungsverord- nung, SR 910.13) (a prerequisite for direct payments)

• Ordinance on animal protection (Tierschutzverordnung SR 455, 455.1)

• Ordinance on protection of water resources and the aquatic environment (Gewässerschutzverordnung SR 814.2, 814.201) • Ordinance on ethological programmes (Ethoprogramm-Verord-

nung SR 910.132.4)

Imported organic products must conform to equivalent condi- tions. In addition, the Ordinance on direct payments in agricul- ture (Verordnung über die Direktzahlungen in der Landwirtschaft SR 910.13) also contains provisions relating to organic farming, forming the basis for the disbursal of ecologically motivated direct payments in Switzerland and is an expression of the Swiss agricultural policy objective to promote organic farming. It is not relevant, however, for foreign producers and trading companies.

Objectives of the Organic Farming Ordinance

The Swiss Ordinance on organic farming and the labelling of organically produced products and foodstuffs (Organic Farming Ordinance; Verordnung über die biologische Landwirtschaft und die Kennzeichnung biologisch produzierter Erzeugnisse und Leb- ensmittel, short name: Bio-Verordnung SR 910.18 and 910.181) came into force on January 1, 1998 and is based on Article 15 of the Agriculture Act (Landwirtschaftsgesetz SR 910.1). It lays down the basic requirements that a product must fulfil in order to be designated organic.

This is intended to protect organic products from abuses and im- prove market transparency. Organic products must comply with strict requirements concerning production and processing and be subject to inspection by a competent and independent inspec- tion body. The state acts in a supervisory capacity with regards to inspection.

Scope and labelling

The Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance is applicable to the follow- ing products:

• Unprocessed agricultural crop, animal breeding and animal products.

• Processed agricultural crop and animal products intended for human consumption, composed essentially of ingredients of plant or animal origin.

• Feed material and fodder for animal breeding.

The Ordinance on Organic Farming is not applied to aquaculture and its products. For these products, the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture does not provide individual import authorizations. This is a major difference to the EU regulation, which includes aquaculture since July 2010. Agricultural products may only be labelled as organic products if they comply with the provisions of the Organic Farming Ordinance. The following terms or their usual derivatives (such as bio, eco) are protected under Swiss law (for other languages see the EU regulation, which stipulates «organic» for English, for example):

• German: «biologisch», «ökologisch» • French: «biologique»

• Italian: «biologico»

Labelling remains voluntary. Where products are labelled as organic, however, they must conform to the relevant provisions of the Organic Farming Ordinance. In Switzerland at present there is no government label for organic products, but there are various private labelling schemes.

How the Swiss Ordinance compares to the Bio Suisse Standards Most of the private labelling schemes both in Switzerland and in the EU go further than the minimum requirements of the Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance and the EU regulation on organic

production. Previous to the Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance coming into force, the standards that were applied to the produc- tion and marketing of organic products were primarily those set by Bio Suisse. Producers and traders that have been certified as conforming to the Bio Suisse Standards may identify their prod- ucts using the Bud label after signing a contract with Bio Suisse. The Bud label is very common on the Swiss market and over 90 percent of all Swiss organic farmers are members of Bio Suisse. For access to the Swiss market with the Bud label see Part B Chapter 1.3.2.

How the Swiss Ordinance compares to the EU regulation on organic production

The Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance is equivalent with the EU regulation on organic production EG 834/2007 and its implement- ing rules EG 889/2008 and EG 1235/2008. In addition, various amendments have been made to the Swiss Ordinance to bring it into line with EU regulation. The Swiss Organic Farming Ordi- nance is stricter than the EU regulation on organic production in requiring conversion of the whole farm to organic management (see Table 3 and, for more detail, Annex I). Its requirements relat- ing to the conversion process differ from the EU regulation: in Switzerland there is no «year zero» (conversion-label applies only after 12 months). As a result, conversion normally takes two years rather than three as in the EU. Another difference is that the EU regulation allows a retrospective recognition of the conversion under specific conditions.

Reciprocal recognition of organic imports, Switzerland-EU

If a product has been approved in accordance with the EU regula- tion on Organic Production, then it can be approved automatically as organic in Switzerland too and vice versa. The terms of the WTO/GATT treaties and the bilateral treaties between Switzerland and the EU stipulate that barriers to trade must not be allowed to form. Since 2002, the bilateral agricultural agreement between Switzerland and the European Union has been in force, stating that the organic regulations for both parties are equivalent. Ex- ceptions are mentioned in Annex 9 (so far only Swiss products in conversion and goat products from tie-stalls are mentioned). The additional conditions imposed by the Swiss Ordinance compared to the EU regulation are therefore not applicable to imports into Switzerland from the EU. In order to comply with the requirements of private labelling schemes, however, conditions such as whole- farm conversion and other additional conditions may be imposed on imports from abroad, including the EU.

Elements of reciprocal recognition:

• EU organic products are also considered organic products in Switzerland. The same applies also to organic goods that have been certified in Switzerland as conforming to the Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance. Such products may be exported to the EU without any problem if they are certified and correctly labelled based on Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance. If the EU organic logo will be applied, special requirements need to be considered:

- origin of the product

- code number of inspection body

• Any indication «bio» (organic), or the use of a private organic label is possible in Switzerland and in the EU.

• The list of countries in Annex 4 of the Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance of the Federal Department of Economy 910.181 (termed in the following the «Country List») generally is analo- gous to the EU third countries list in the annex 3 of the EU regulation 1235/2008.

• With regard to the accredited certification bodies, the Swiss Or- ganic Farming Ordinance refers to the EU regulation on organic production, thereby acknowledging all the inspection bodies or authorities published in on the webpage of the EU-commission http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/organic/consumer-confidence/ inspection-certification_en

• The exporter in the EU must ensure that the product bears the code number of the inspection body and the origin of the product.

• Organic imports into the EU that are later exported again to Switzerland must have all duty paid before they leave the EU and must be certified as organic products conforming to the EU regulation on organic production.

• An exception is made to the principle of reciprocal recogni- tion in the case of products from farms in the process of conversion. When a conversion product from the EU, or another country, is imported into Switzerland, this must be specifically declared. They must also bear a conversion label stating «product under conversion to organic farming." It is essential that these products are properly labelled so as not to mislead customers into thinking the farm is fully converted.

• Due to the differing requirements pertaining to conversion labelling, conversion products exported from Switzerland into the EU must be sold in the EU as conventional prod- ucts. In Switzerland only 4 months must have elapsed from the start of conversion (after which conversion products may use the conversion label) whereas in the EU, it is 12 months. Furthermore, the EU does not permit conversion products composed of several agricultural ingredients to use the conversion label.

Points for importers to note concerning Switzerland:

Import requirements

Organic products from the EU that are labelled as such in accord- ance with EU regulation on organic production may be recog- nized as organic products in Switzerland (see above). Imports of products from countries outside the EU into Switzerland (and also into the EU) are regulated by means of equivalence requirements: production, inspection and certification and labelling of organic products in emerging markets and markets in transition must conform to conditions that are equivalent to those contained in the Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance.

Inspection and certification: In order for an imported product to be marketed as «organic» («biologisch» or «ökologisch») in Swit- zerland the producers, processors and exporters in the country of origin and the importers in Switzerland must be inspected by an accredited certification body at least once per year. For this

they must enter into a contract with an accredited inspection and certification body. In Switzerland the following inspection and certification bodies are accredited at Federal level (the actual list of the Swiss certification and inspection bodies is available on http://www.blw.admin.ch/themen/00013/00085/00092/index. html?lang=en

For more information see chapter B 1.4.2).

Inspection and certification bodies must conform to EN-45011 or ISO-65 standards and obtain accreditation from the Swiss Accreditation Service (Schweizerische Akkreditierungsstelle SAS). List of certification bodies accredited in third countries is to be found in Annex 4 of the Federal Department of Economy (FDE) Ordinance on Organic Farming (see also the web information corner at the end of this chapter).

Exports from countries on the List of Countries

Countries where the government imposes conditions on organic products that are equivalent to those applied in Switzerland and adherence to these conditions is guaranteed, may be included on a List of Countries in Annex 4 of the Federal Department of Economy (FDE) Ordinance on Organic Farming. Countries wishing to be included on this list must submit an application to the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG; Bundesamt für Landwirt- schaft, BLW) giving details showing that their production regula- tions and inspection systems are equivalent. As the country lists of the EU and Switzerland are equivalent, it is recommended to apply for the EU and Swiss List of Countries at the same time. At present, all the EU countries plus Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, India, Israel and New Zealand are included on the Swiss Country List. Tunisia is already on the EU List of Countries and in process to be accepted on the Swiss Country List. With the expansion of the European Union to the east, the new members would automatically be treated as EU member states. The EFTA countries are not automatically added to the Swiss Country List. However, EFTA-member countries recognize ordinances and de- crees of other EFTA- and EU-countries as equivalent (see EFTA: SR 0.632.31 - http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/c0_632_31.html). The updated List of Countries can be obtained from the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture or downloaded at the following website: http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/rs.html

Organic imports from these countries are subject to simpler pro- cedures for approval. For such imports the exporter must obtain an import certificate (Certificate of inspection for the import of products from organic production - Kontrollbescheinigung) from the certification body or authority in the country of origin. Link: http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/rs.html This certificate is presented to the importer in Switzerland. It is required by the certification body when the annual inspection of the business is carried out. Moreover, this document confirms that the imported product is an organic product.

Exports from non-approved countries outside the EU

Similar to the EU, Switzerland also operates a system of «indi- vidual authorization». For direct imports from countries that are not included on the list of third countries, the importer in Switzer- land must submit an application for individual authorization to the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG). The forms for this applica- tion are available at

www.blw.admin.ch/themen/00013/00085/00092/index. html?lang=en. On the basis of these the FOAG can confirm the equivalence of individual products and issue «individual authori- zation.»

Individual authorizations are listed annually in the Swiss official trade gazette (Schweizerische Handelsamtsblatt) and can be seen on the internet

www.blw.admin.ch/themen/00013/00085/00092/index. html?lang=en. Only when the individual authorization has been granted may the product be marketed in Switzerland as an organic product. In these cases too, every delivery must be ac- companied by an import certificate.

Requirements related to the individual authorization

• A separate application for individual authorization is required for each exporter in the country of origin.

• The declaration of equivalence – point 15 of the application for individual authorization - must be stamped and signed by the certification/inspection body of the exporter and is the key prerequisite for approval of the application.

• Checklist for assessing equivalence from the Fed- eral Office for Agriculture see: http://www.blw.admin.ch/ themen/00013/00085/00092/index.html?lang=en the use of genetic engineering and irradiation is prohibited. Equivalence of procedures used is subject to detailed assessment.

• The more thoroughly the documentation has been prepared, the quicker and less complicated it will be to process the ap- plication. For all individual authorizations, a basic fee of 300 Swiss Francs will be charged by FOAG. In the case of applica- tions that place especially great demands on the time and effort of the FOAG, a higher fee is charged to reflect this. It is advis- able to prepare the documents as thoroughly as possible in German, French, Italian or English and, where necessary, draw on the services of a certification body in order to keep the ad- ministrative effort and the corresponding costs, to a minimum. • Inspection to ascertain whether the importer in Switzerland has

the required authorization for all imports is carried out by the Swiss inspection and certification bodies.

It is expected that the «individual authorization» procedure will only be used until the end of 2012. The new procedure planned will be based on a list of recognized certification bod- ies published by the EU and Switzerland. Products certified by certification bodies on this list have access to the Swiss mar- ket without individual authorization. This list will be elaborated on in collaboration with the European Commission along with the Federal Office for Agriculture. The list of control bodies and control authorities will be published for the first time in 2011. Until the end of 2012, both procedures – the individual authorization and the list of control bodies – can be used. It is planned that from 2013 onwards, market access for organic products from third countries (not included in List of Countries in Annex 4 of the Federal Department of Economy (FDE) Ordi- nance on Organic Farming) into the Swiss market will only be possible using the list of control bodies and control authorities.

New procedure in preparation

Conditions pertaining to import certificates

Every consignment must be accompanied by an import certifi- cate. This certificate serves as a confirmation that production requirements have been adhered to and that inspection has taken place. Import certificates are issued by certification/inspection bodies that are accredited at Federal level (not by the Federal Office for Agriculture):

• In the case of imports into Switzerland from countries on the Country List, the import certificate must be completed by one of the certification bodies or by the authority for the relevant country stipulated on the Country List. For imports from the EU the import certificate is no more required. In the case of imports of non-EU products from the EU that already have an import certificate for the EU, this will be accepted as long as the information contained in it is valid at the time of import into Switzerland.

• In the case of imports into Switzerland from countries not included on the List of Countries (where individual authorization is required), the body named in the application for individual authorization (normally the exporter’s certification/ inspection body) is responsible for issuing the certificate.

Care should be taken to ensure that the properly completed document, which must have been stamped and signed by the inspection body or authority, is forwarded to the importer in Switzerland without delay. If an importer is unable to produce an import certificate he will be sanctioned accordingly.

1.3.2 Private organic labelling schemes